ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul track & field teams will remain local this weekend as they are set to compete at the Gopher Classic hosted by the University of Minnesota on Saturday.

GOPHER CLASSIC INFORMATION
The Gopher Classic begins at 10:30 a.m. on February 6, with the women's shot put while the track events begin with the men's mile at 10:30 a.m. The meet, being held at the University Fieldhouse in Minneapolis, Minn., is set to wrap up by 5 p.m. on Saturday. The event is free and open to the public to attend. There will be no live stream of the Gopher Classic, but fans can follow live results here.

LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears last competed at the Mark Schuck Open and Multi last weekend in Mankato, Minn., with a trio of school records falling and four Concordia athletes recording NCAA provisional qualifying marks.

Sophomore Cam Mata etched his name in the Concordia record books, clearing 24' 2.25" in the long jump to break Christian Davis' 2021 record of 24' 1.5". Mata's mark is an NCAA provisional qualifier and ranks ninth in all of Division II this season.

Sophomore Del Johnson claimed the third indoor school record of his young career, clocking a time of 48.29 seconds in the 400-meter dash to win the event. His time beat out the previous record of 48.38 seconds set by Domonique Gilmer in 2010. The sophomore now owns the indoor school record in the 200, 300, and 400-meter dashes. His banked track converted time of 47.54 seconds is an NCAA provisional qualifier that ranks 15th in Division II.

Johnson also took first place in the 200-meter dash after clocking a time of 21.77 seconds, another NCAA provisional qualifer. His 200-meter converted time of 21.39 seconds ranks 13th in all of Division II. 

Competing in just his second collegiate meet, freshman Fadel Johnson Jr. joined in on the school record action as he recorded a leap of 48' 5.50" in the triple jump to shatter the previous CSP record of 47' 0.25" set by Tre Sayles in 2008. His distance was another NCAA provisional qualifier, currently ranking 23^rd in Division II.

Sophomore Zay Acosta also finished in the top 10 in a pair of events, placing third in the 500-meter with a time of 1:08.25 and finishing seventh in the 800-meter with a time of 2:00.80.

For the Concordia women, sophomore transfer Nevaeh Coffer hit an NCAA provisional qualifier in the long jump, clearing a new personal record distance of 19' 0" to come within less than an inch of the school record of 19" 0.75". Her distance is tied for 32^nd in Division II this season.

Senior Nyadio Chan set a new personal record in the 600-meter, finishing in 1:38.47 to place fourth.

Freshman Taylor Thompson shattered her personal record in the weight throw with a toss of 51' 2.75", good for third place in the event.

NSIC TOP 10s
Several Golden Bears rank in the top 10 on the NSIC leaderboards in their respective events so far this season.

For the CSP men, sophomore Del Johnson owns the fastest 400-meter dash time in the conference at 48.29 seconds. His converted time of 47.54 seconds is an NCAA provisional qualifying time that ranks 15^th in all of Division II so far. Johnson also sits second in the conference in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.77 seconds, ranking 13^th in Division II with a converted time of 21.39 seconds.

In the long jump, sophomore Cam Mata is second in the conference and 14^th in all of Division II with a distance of 24' 2.25", while freshman Fadel Johnson Jr. is just behind him with a distance of 23' 4.5", good for seventh in the NSIC. Fadel Johnson Jr. also sits third in the Northern Sun in the triple jump with an NCAA provisional qualifying distance of 48' 5.5", good for 29^th in the NSIC.

In the throws, senior Carter Krummen ranks fifth in the weight throw with a mark of 60' 1" while senior Dan Otto sits ninth with a distance of 56' 7.25". Krummen's mark is an NCAA provision qualifier that ranks 40^th in Division II.

In the shot put, senior Cade Feist ranks fourth in the conference with a toss of 53' 9.75", and Otto ranks eighth with a distance of 52' 11".

Concordia's multi-athletes got their first full taste of action last weekend, with junior Will Hugo scoring 4,555 points in the heptathlon, fifth most in the NSIC, while senior Jeffrey Odamtten scored 4,266 points, 10^th most in the conference.

Senior distance runner Ethan Blischke also joined the conference's top 10 leaderboards last weekend, clocking the 10^th fastest 5,000-meter time in the conference at 15:41.55.

For the Concordia women, junior Desiree Loyd's high jump height of 5' 5.75" at the Chuck Peterson Open ranks second in the conference. That mark is also an NCAA provisional qualifier, ranking 29^th in Division II so far.

Junior Mehlayna Straub also cracked the top 10 in the high jump last weekend after clearing 5' 4.25" to rank ninth in the conference. Straub also sits seventh in the pentathlon with a score of 3,282 points at the Mark Schuck Open.

Senior middle distance runner Nyadio Chan ranks in the conference's top 10 in three events, sitting fourth in the 1,000-meter with a time of 3:02.32, seventh in the 800-meter with a time of 2:19.61, and ninth in the 600-meter with a time of 1:38.47

In the shot put, senior Maya Lavendusky ranks seventh with a distance of 41' 10.5".